Youth Enterprise Fund chairman Bruce Odhiambo. PHOTO | FILE
By EDWIN MUTAI, emutai@ke.nationmedia.com
In Summary
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s name has once again been
dragged into the Youth Enterprise Development Fund (YEDF) troubles after
a second State agency said it had asked him to sack the entire board.
The State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC) told Parliament that it advised Mr Kenyatta almost a year ago.
This was revealed during investigations into the
alleged loss of Sh180 million belonging to the fund through a suspect IT
contract offered to Quorandum Limited.
The Inspectorate of State Corporations (ISC) had
similarly recommended the sacking of the entire board, but todate the
team is still in office, turning the focus on Mr Kenyatta.
Ms Jane Mugambi, the former SCAC chief executive
officer said the YEDF board chaired by Bruce Odhiambo disregarded
Treasury circulars and Section 12 of the 2007 order establishing the
fund when it invested surplus money in commercial banks instead of
lending it to the youth.
Despite the YEDF board being inducted on the
Mwongozo code of conduct for State corporations, the board acted in
total disregard of the laid down procedures, Ms Mugambi said.
“We have given a list of board members of the YEDF
whom we inducted on Mwongozo code. What happened at YEDF is a
disappointment on our part.”
“We didn’t expect surplus funds in the YEDF because
they were to be lent to the youth. To have Sh400 million invested in a
bank is unfair. The board should be held collectively responsible for
what has happened in the YEDF. They had a fiduciary duty to ensure the
youth money is used for the intended purpose,” Ms Mugambi told the
Public Investment Committee (PIC) Wednesday.
The ex-SCAC official said that despite the
Principal Secretaries (PS)Treasury and Public Service, Youth and Sports
being represented in the YEDF, the board went ahead to invest the money
without seeking the Treasury’s approval.
PS Treasury Kamau Thugge (Finance) and his
Devolution counterpart Peter Mangiti were represented in the board by
Samuel Macharia and Isaac Kamande respectively.
The PIC is investigating how Sh180 million was
transferred in two tranches of Sh115 million and Sh65 million to
Quorandum, 10 days after Mr Odhiambo appointed Catherine Namuye, the
suspended acting chief executive, as the sole signatory to the fund’s
account.
Ms Namuye allegedly contracted Quorandum to design a computer management software for the fund before making the payments.
“SCAC has not slept on the job. We empowered the
board to exercise its duties. The whole board in this matter is
collectively responsible,” said Ms Mugambi.
She added that the board did not bother to recruit a substantive chief executive from 2010 when the position fell vacant.
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